As we draw ever closer to the annual night dedicated to ghosts, ghouls, and severed limbs, our DVD shelves will be graced with more and more DVDs that take bloodletting to the level of art. I believe that most of the classics that are coming out this holiday season have already arrived. This leaves more recent "classics" (you decide) to come to the fore. In addition to the horror stand-bys, this week brings plenty of desirable titles to store shelves. There are television titles, classic titles, all manner of tempting artistry digitally encoded on small shiny disks. Below is my pick for the week and a number of other notable titles.

This week's pick is none other than Hostel Part II, being released in unrated form. This is a movie that many of you disliked, possibly even hated. I was not one of them. I will not extol its virtues, but it it's definitely better than many claim it to be. I also feel that it is stronger than the Saw series.

After the unnecessary opening scene, the movie slips into the formula mined for the first film, except instead of the three backpacking guys, it is a trio of young women off for a weekend getaway while studying in Rome. While on their journey, they are approached by a woman who tells them of these springs in Slovakia that they should visit. Now, we all know what is going to happen. While the first film had that lulling effect in the first half, where you are not sure what is going to happen or when, that feeling of building suspense is gone. We all know where this is leading, and at some points, I just wished they would hurry up and get to the gore already. Still, I found the journey of these women to be a bit more interesting than the journey of the guys last time. The movie did drag a couple of times, but I still felt oddly compelled.

With the lack of any real suspense for the audience in the first half of the movie, Eli Roth had to do something to keep up interest, and this is where the first of the additions takes place. Enter Roger Bart and Richard Burgi, reuniting for the first time since their tenure on Desperate Housewives, as Stuart and Todd. These are two of the would-be killers who are to become Elite Hunters. We get to spend a good deal of time with these two as we watch them approach the deed. These scenes are the best in the movie; they create these fascinating individuals, and while we do not learn much of their history, enough is revealed to make them just great to watch as they interact with each other and the potential victims.